Processors, power supplies, and other hardware components for computer systems are typically cooled during operation by one or more electric fans. Each fan may be mounted in a fan cage, which in turn is mounted to a chassis of the computer system. The user may need to remove one or more of these fans, e.g., to replace a fan that is no longer functioning properly, or to add additional fans for redundancy. The user may also need to remove the fan cage, e.g., in order to have access to other components in the computer system.
In order to remove a fan from the computer system, the user has to unplug electrical cabling to the fan, and then unscrew the fan from the fan cage. In order to remove the fan cage, the user has to first remove the fan from the fan cage, as just described, and then unscrew the fan cage from the chassis. This can be a time-consuming process. In addition, if the user does not properly align the fan or the fan cage during installation or reinstallation, the fan may not function properly.